What Radio Stations Can Learn From Gas Stations

October 30, 2018

Back in June, in the blog Radio Needs Second-Order Thinking, Jon Coleman introduced us to the concept of second-order thinking and how beneficial it can be for radio. First-order thinking is considering the immediate impact of the decisions we make. Second-order thinking is considering all the potential consequences of the decisions we make. When a … Continue reading What Radio Stations Can Learn From Gas Stations »

What Starbucks is to Radio Stations

October 23, 2018

I’m definitely a Starbucks P1. I give Starbucks a significant amount of TSDC (Time Spent Drinking Coffee.) A look at my quarter hours with cappuccinos and lattes would show them spread out across dayparts. There’s no question the bulk of my drinkership happens in morning drive, but I’ve been known to cume middays, afternoons and … Continue reading What Starbucks is to Radio Stations »

10 PPM Tips for Program Directors: 10 Years Later

October 16, 2018

Arbitron Nielsen Portable People Meter PPM

This Fall marks 10 years since Arbitron rolled out the Portable People Meter™ (PPM™) to the top 10 markets in the United States, following initial tests in Houston and Philadelphia (markets 11-50 rolled out in 2009 and 2010.) A year after the rollout was complete, I wrote “Top Ten Things to Do as a New … Continue reading 10 PPM Tips for Program Directors: 10 Years Later »

Images Are Like Icebergs

October 9, 2018

There’s nothing more sobering than watching a focus group of your radio station’s listeners talking about your beloved product. You might watch in horror as they: Refer to your station by its previous brand name; Are unable to name any of the people on your year-old morning show; Are certain your station plays 70s music, … Continue reading Images Are Like Icebergs »

Getting to the Why

October 2, 2018

Years ago, I was presenting some results to an internal client. He was a sales rep who had seen dozens of quantitative research studies my team conducted. We had asked a question about social media, and he said, “Why are they using Friendster instead of Myspace [it was a long time ago]? What’s the difference?” … Continue reading Getting to the Why »

Should I Play That Song On My Radio Station?

September 25, 2018

For radio program directors, the question of which songs to play and which to leave out is as old as the medium itself. If it was only about playing popular songs, radio stations would be broader than they are. Why is that? Well, just like restaurants don’t all serve the same popular foods and generally … Continue reading Should I Play That Song On My Radio Station? »

Here’s to Local Radio and Waffle House

September 18, 2018

Waffle House Storm Center Hurricane Florence

As the Carolinas continue to feel the effects of Hurricane Florence, let’s take a moment to recognize and celebrate two entities that often shine at their best during times of adversity. Local radio stations …and (wait for it!) Waffle House. Let’s start with local radio. Local radio stations play a vitally important role to their … Continue reading Here’s to Local Radio and Waffle House »

The 90s Music Research Conundrum

September 11, 2018

In theory, if you turn on an Adult Contemporary radio station in 2018, you should be hearing a healthy dose of 90s music. If you graduated high school in 1995, for example, you would be around 41 today—right in the wheelhouse of the 25-54 demographic. But of the major eras played on most Adult Contemporary … Continue reading The 90s Music Research Conundrum »

Why Radio Stations Are Like Toy Stores

September 4, 2018

Back in March of this year, I wrote a blog post called Why Toys “R” Us is closing. In it, I argued that while market forces and new competition played a role in its business decline, it was lack of brand depth that did in Toys “R” Us, a company that had complete domination of … Continue reading Why Radio Stations Are Like Toy Stores »

The Great Data Quality Summit

August 28, 2018

Recently a great, long-time client of ours disclosed to me that they fielded a research project with another company. This is not unusual; we often encourage our clients to get other perspectives on challenging situations. In this case, however, the client told me that they were no more than two or three PowerPoint slides into … Continue reading The Great Data Quality Summit »

Building strong brands. Developing great content.